Bellarine Times
Tuesday 17 August 2010
VOL 3. No 33
www.bellarinetimes.com.au
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Queenscliffe Maritime Museum will host tours of Point Lonsdale’s historic lighthouse and foghorn shed to celebrate International Lighthouse Weekend. The event will be officially opened with a flag raising by the Port of Melbourne Corporation at 11am on Saturday, August 21 and tours can be booked all weekend on 5258 3440. Dave Dawkins is one of the local volunteers who will host tours of the working lighthouse and restored forghorn shed. Photo: ALISON MARTIN
ELECTRIC DREAM Early negotiations to trial electric cars in the region have sparked the interest of the Clifton Springs community and its post-carbon ambitions.
BY ALISON MARTIN PROACTIVE community members are campaigning for Clifton Springs to be included as a trial site for a proposed electric car service. Drysdale and Clifton Springs Community Association secretary, Patrick Hughes, said the association had requested the City of Greater Geelong included Clifton Springs in a proposed trial of an electric car service in the municipality. Hughes congratulated CoGG officers for “taking the lead” on the initiative and supported council’s negotiations with Better Place Electric Vehicles regarding a trial of the innovative project. However in promoting the Bellarine’s focus on reducing the region’s carbon footprint, the DCSCA believes it is essential for Clifton Springs to be
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included if the car trial goes ahead. Better Place Australia is part of a global company dedicated to zero emissions driving. It aims to enable the mass adoption of electric vehicles in Australia by providing the infrastructure and services that make it easy, affordable and attractive for motorists to adopt and drive electric vehicles Hughes said while the trial proposal was at an early stage, it was important that any trial should not be restricted to the city centre, but also in at least one outlying area. “We believe the Clifton Springs area is an ideal location for one of the battery switching stations that would be included in the trial. “An electric car service would alleviate the local environmental problems associated with heavy commuter traffic.
“Public transport between the Clifton Springs area and central Geelong is very poor and increasing numbers of people from the north Bellarine are driving to work in Geelong or to Melbourne; or they’re driving to Geelong to catch a train to Melbourne,” he said. “Local roads are approaching capacity in peak hours and levels of harmful greenhouse gases from the vehicles are increasing steadily. The area is a designated growth zone, so the present problems will only increase, because the population will increase,” Hughes said. He said an electric car service and battery station at Clifton Springs would also be a key in demonstrating CoGG’s sustainability vision for across the municipality. The DCSCA and other local groups lobbying for
sustainability, believe there is huge potential for the Bellarine to become a demonstration project or case study in developing a local post-carbon economy. “The Clifton Springs area, as the current hub of the north Bellarine, is the logical starting point of such a development. “An electric car service would also complement the proposed ferry service between the Bellarine and Melbourne. If a second ferry service is established, electric cars would be ideal for the relatively short drive between people’s homes and the ferry port,” he said. DCSCA is determined to be involved in any opportunity to trial sustainable initiatives and is planning to take its proposal to CoGG's environment portfolio councillor, John Doull, as soon as possible.
WED 2-3ft easing, N 13° THU 1-2ft average, W/NW 13° FRI 1-3ft windy W 12° SAT 1-2ft easing N 14°
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